When War Blocks the Road

Cyprus – Turkey and Greece

The first one I came across and really didn’t expect was Greece and Turkey and the ongoing issues regarding Cyprus.  I had an office full of maps at home and I constantly looked at them trying to work out the best way to get around the world that also took in all I wanted to see.  It was a fun part of the planning stages but I always knew I’d have to be flexible.  

The problem for me was passing through Iraq and Syria as I didn’t want to go through the Stans (I hear they are stunning but I just wanted to see the Middle East and India more) I had a plan and contacted a few shippers and I was going to fly the bike to Jordan.

So, plan A was in full swing, I had contacted Yamaha Cyprus and they had agreed to do a full service and help me pack the bike ready for shipping using one of the Tenere World Raid readymade cradles. A lorry had been booked to move the crate to the airport, I’d sorted a hire car, booked a flight to Jordan and a hotel near the receiving end warehouse.  The paperwork had all been e-mailed to the correct people. All I had to do was take my carnet into the customs and sort the stamps.

I rode my bike to the customs office and the agent started going through and entering all my details on the computer.  He then opened the carnet and paused and said “where’s your entry stamp?” The conversation then went like this.

Dave: We’re in the EU, I don’t need to use the carnet here.
Agent: How did you get here?
Dave: I got a boat from Turkey and rode from North Cyprus to the Greek side.

It was at this point Plan A went out the window. The mood in the office changed and voices were raised and I was spoken ‘at’. It was no longer a conversation, more like a history lesson about the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.  I did know some of the history but it turns out that to import a vehicle into the “south” of Cyprus you can only do it from Greece and they will stamp your carnet.  All previous emails and paperwork had just shown a scan of the front of the carnet and when I showed it to the agent two weeks before they didn’t open it and just took it for granted that I’d had it stamped.

I was now in a hole and the customs officers were talking about impounding the bike.  After showing them again my passport with stamps it was agreed that I was not there illegally but the bike was.  I said that I’d call the carnet people in the United Kingdon and see what they said.  I then picked up all my paperwork and did a runner.  I didn’t know what else to do so I just left and called them from the place I was staying with the bike very well hidden.

I then spent the next five days worrying about the bike getting impounded when I try to cross back into North Cyprus, but in the end it was the Turkish side that was a small problem and that I owed them money, £5.40 for import tax that I had missed when I came over from mainland Turkey (I readily paid and scarpered off).